Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

I keep telling people about how it is Arizona's birthday but people either don't believe me or don't care haha  That’s okay, I will celebrate on my own. They have Valentine’s day here in Russia, and flowers are a big thing. There are flower shops every 100 yards on the street. They are everywhere. It is actually like that all year round though.  I like it :)
Thanks for the love today! Yesterday was our Valentine’s day, and right now it is yours :) I am wearing a pink tie in honor of Valentine’s day. On Saturday we had a big party for the occasion. We had a heart making/decorating station, food, games and music and it was really great! We had plenty of people show up.  Yeah.  It wasn't awkward and empty.  The best part is that maybe half or almost half of the people were less-active members and/or non-members.

Our investigator is doing good. We were planning on teaching a lesson about the importance of Church attendance and scripture study but we got sidetracked and he wanted to know about why we don't drink black tea. So we spun the lesson to the Word of Wisdom and it turned out really well. He didn't accept to live it yet, but he is hopefully going to pray for an understanding of the principle and a confirmation that it is something that he should do. He isn't ready for baptism yet but we are praying and hoping.

In answer to your question about the broken leg - if you break your leg then they take you to the hospital and set the bone and then they put a kind of clamp on your leg to hold it all in place. Then you sit in a bed for a few weeks while it heals. They don't really have a hospital food company or entertainment or anything. They leave that up to the patient’s family to come and take care of the patient. It is the same thing with fresh clothing. We have been doing a very minor part of it all. I am not sure if the family visits the lady in our branch but we have been trying to help a bit. She loves sudoku and cookies so that’s what we brought. Maybe next time we can bring something else. Maybe not sweets, but real food :)

Crazy kids - feel the burn.

Shorts with a big fluffy jacket.

I am glad to hear that Kyle Greenwalt is getting his Eagle project done. That's so great. Maybe he could add as part of his project to get some people to go spend with the kids in the hospital. I am not sure how that would work out, but I have realized how lonely it can get. We visit people at the hospital and we realize that although we bring them Liahona magazines, cookies and maybe we show a small video to them, it isn't a whole lot. I have realized that although that stuff is really good and fun sometimes, as soon as we leave that apartment there won't be another visitor for another week. Can you even imagine? Just sitting at home, your sight is going bad, you know how to make wonderful food but you have nobody to share it with, and you have stories from your lifetime but again nobody that you can inspire with those stories. So you sit at home, waiting for someone to come talk to you, maybe you talk to the mail lady as they drop some mail off, or you can watch the TV but how long will that last you? It’s kinda sad. Time is probably one of the most precious things we can give to someone, because it can never be repaid. That time spent with the person can't come back and it lifts a person from sadness better than any material gift in my opinion.
I hope that didn't sound too sad or gloomy. But maybe this Valentine’s day we could focus on spending time with those who would benefit from it, and not just with those who are the most fun to be around!

Oh and by the way, don't forget! Grandma Gardner's birthday is coming up soon :) It’s the 17th right? I hope I am not mistaken.

Our week was good, we had some ups and some downs. Some people we visited asked us to leave and not come back, some slammed the door, some didn't answer the door but shouted that we should leave and if we didn't then they would come down and beat us with a stick. Haha.  Maybe I should have been afraid? I think Russians are mostly bark and little bite. That is my experience with them.  

My high for the week was that we had 24 again at church! Really big numbers. We are having a lot of people come. We are very blessed.  That is even more than last week. That’s 2 weeks in a row of great attendance. I couldn't tell you what it is, but I am glad that I get to be a part of it. We have some great members here and they really strengthen each other more than the missionaries can. I am blessed to be able to be serving here among great people.

This transfer has gone by very quickly.  The missionaries in Artyom will stay the same. I will still be with Elder Siebach and the sisters are staying the same.  However, the Andersons are now officially moved out. We got to spend some time with them today, helping them close up the apartment they were renting and pay the landlord and move some things out of their apartment. I will miss them, they really are a wonderful couple and they really help the people here see that the Gospel works for young people and for old people. The members here only ever see happy young Americans so they think that that’s all there is to this church, when in fact there are wonderful people of every age and every nationality. The Andersons will never be forgotten here in Artyom, they have done a lot of wonderful work here. 

I didn't get the package yet, but I have a Visa trip in 2 weeks and should be getting it then hopefully. Thank you for the love and support, especially the packages. They are a very big plus every time we get one. Every missionary loves to get a package.

I hope you have a great week and I hope you have a chance to spend some of your precious time with those who don't often have special visitors. I know that they will appreciate it.

I love you lots!

Elder Gardner

 

Eating raw pumpkin

It’s always great to hear from you! I am glad to hear that you had a warm day this week :) I was thinking the same thing about us that we have been having pretty warm weather here recently.  When I say we had warm weather I mean that it was nice because you could go out without having the wind hurt too bad as it blew into your face :)

All is well, right now I am eating a raw pumpkin, cut up into small cubes and with sugar poured all over em. Pretty tasty :) We had a good week this week. We had lots of time to talk to people on the streets and to serve people. We haven't been doing lots of service projects but we have had plenty of opportunities to do good deeds daily and that is such a blessing.

There are some days when you go out with a bunch of plans. You have people set up that you’re going to meet with and they agreed to meet. Then the first person you agreed to visit got sick, so you go contacting for an hour and a half. Then the 2nd person doesn't answer their phone and they don't come to the church to meet with you. So you go contacting some more. After that you get ready to have a great English practice and you prepare everything to have a great discussion and you invite a bunch of people and they all agree to come. Then nobody comes. And you go contact some more. On days like those, it really makes all the difference when you see a grandmother and she gives you a big smile even if she is missing some teeth and the ones remaining are made of gold :) Or when you see an older person walking very carefully down a snowy set of stairs and you can come to give a hand and a smile. Those simple acts become such valuable little treasures on days when everything else goes wrong.

 34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

We had a great Sunday yesterday, 23 people came to church! That’s the most we have had in a long time. It was a good day. Lots of people got up to bear their testimonies and we didn't have any awkward pauses in between people. We have been working hard to get people to be more consistent. It's great because we normally have 15 or so show up. And normally it includes random people that haven't come for a long time and then some regular members who don't come. If only we could get each member to come each Sunday... oooh boy then we would have something great going here :)

Lion :) Rawr

We accidentally visited the hospital at the wrong time this week. We went to go see a lady who had broken her leg and we were bringing her some Sudoku booklets and a magazine. We didn't know, nobody said anything either so we went at the wrong time but then the hospital workers got a bit upset at us. We told them that we weren't Russian and they understood. J  They gave us 3 minutes to give her the books and to get gone. I am glad that they were so patient because we hadn't seen her for over a week.  It was nice to see Galina. Hopefully soon she will be out of the hospital and her leg will be better. She broke it slipping on the ice.
Speaking of falling on the ice, I have fallen 2 times already but they haven't been bad falls. Both really slow. But another time we were walking along this dirt trail at night and I stepped near a metal fence thing sticking out of the ground. I didn't see it and it caught my foot and I ate it. I fell face first and landed really hard on my front hahaha it was so bad it knocked the wind out of me haha. I wish we could have gotten it on video!

Yeah we have a big 60 inch flat screen in our apartment except it doesn't have access to the stations. Well... normally it doesn't have access but we were fiddling around and accidentally figured out how to connect to the satellite. Don't tell anyone! Haha just kidding we don't watch it, even if we wanted to we couldn't. I broke the cable.

We have one investigator right now. We taught the first lesson to a new lady this week but we are letting the sisters teach her because they connect better with her. You know how girls are. :) We do mostly street contacting and tracting and teaching lessons. We haven't had a lot of time to do much else. Those are the big activities each day. Members sometimes help with missionary work but not too often.

I hope you have a good week this week, I don't really have a whole lot of news.

I love you.

Elder Gardner

 

Letter to Cameron.  She asked what do you keep in your pocket:

We still walk the streets every day like in other cities. We see multiple cats every day, at least 8 a day. They are everywhere!

Normally I carry a few small notebooks in my bag along with about 20 pens, family photos, the scriptures, a paper with the words in Russian written down for how to give blessings, a notebook with a bunch of scriptures written in it (a cheat sheet to remember where important verses are), a church magazine, some invitations to our church building, some of those CTR rings and a ward list. I also have my nail clippers, flashlights and sticky notes in a pocket of my bag. Then in my pockets I have a chapstick, flashdrive, camera, wallet, daily planner, and maybe some pieces of gum if I think we will be on the street for a while :)

Fluffy hat and oversized jacket

Hey there. This week was a good week. We had a chance to go to Vladivostok on Tuesday for a zone conference.

I got a letter from the Sutherland family – yeah :)  Please give them a big hug for me!

In the letter from the Sutherlands they wrote "I can imagine you reading this letter right now wearing a big fluffy hat and an oversized jacket."  I was actually wearing both of those things at that time. I had to take a picture  :)

The other days of the week we spent meeting with less-active members, learning about their lives and families. With some less-active members you have to really become their friend before moving into the gospel. People here get pretty weird pretty quick if you say "We have a message about Jesus Christ!". They will shut you down right away.  Sometimes we start with "Hey! We are volunteers here, do you know where any food banks or homeless shelters are?" That piques their interest and then we can move into the gospel "Yeah we are here as missionaries and we are looking for ways to serve people like Jesus taught. Do you believe in Christ?"

This past Sunday we had a big special class in 2nd hour about how we can follow these new goals better. We had members teaching parts of the lesson and it turned out very well. I am so pleased with our members. We have some very special people here. One woman testified about how she used to have problems all the time with her husband and ever since he started taking the missionary lessons they have been fighting less and less. The teachings of Jesus Christ can change people’s hearts. It is true!

The branch is good, lots of people are getting sick and can't make it to church and it is pretty frustrating. People here get sick all the time... like ALL the time. It is a problem. They have very cheap healthcare but for that it goes down in quality. I think that is what Obamacare was supposed to be right? I never really understood that whole concept.  J

I think people accept me as a leader - but while Elder Anderson is still here they still see him as President Anderson because that is what he has been for the past year and a half haha. I don't blame them. I am sure it will even itself out soon enough. Thank you for the leadership advice. I always appreciate it :)

We have a member here named ‘S’  who has been slowly moving away from the church. He has been struggling for a few weeks now but he is doing better! As a matter of fact, he said that he wants to come back to church. He has been talking to a girl in another town farther west and she has been helping him keep the faith. Also, the missionary who baptized ‘S’ did a lot to help him. He specifically mentioned that thanks to them he is starting to come back. It really isn't anything that we did as missionaries. Of course we have been praying for, studying for, and trying to meet with him but we weren't the reason his heart was softened. It is just so great to see him start to believe again.

Don't worry about my weight, I am looking and feeling fine!  :)  This week I made some tasty soup and some crepes, some tasty eggs and also some cookies. I got a new recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies and they are very tasty.  My favorite thing to cook is probably cookies because I normally give them away to people on their birthdays and that makes them happy that someone remembers their birthdays :) I like that.

However, soup is really the way to go, you can throw everything you want and need into it and it’s so simple. Hot water, bouillon cube, taters, pasta, carrots, onions, frozen veggies, chicken chunks, salt and you're in business! It saves fairly well and can be put on top of rice or more noodles or mashed potatoes as a nice gravy. The possibilities are really endless!

The apartment is really nice. A big tv and I have a big queen size bed. Elder Siebach wanted to be on the bunk bed so he gets the top bunk and I am across the room on my queen :) The beds are great! No complaints haha

Our Apartment

The zombie homes are kinda rough, but the more you spend your time in them the more comfortable it becomes. I always keep a flashlight in my bag because you never know what might happen in the day. I have used it a lot on my mission actually!

I didn't feel any earthquake... haha I wish I would have felt it! That would have been cool :) We don't have any missionaries out there for now. We have plenty of work to be doing here for now, our hands are full!

You asked about any good stories from this week?  Hmm... It was Sister Springers birthday this week and we got her a cake and some cookies and chocolate and after church on Sunday the whole branch sang to her and we ate snacks :) It was good. We are planning a Valentine’s day party but it is kinda hard to get people on board with it. Not enough people come to church early enough to plan all together, and not enough people stay until the end of 2nd hour to plan afterwards :) It’s okay, I am sure it will be really great.

Sister Springer's Birthday

I love you all, I know that the Gospel is true. It truly will change the hearts of those who hear it if they will let it. Like what is written in Alma 42:

 22  But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

                23   But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.

 

24  For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and alsomercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

There is a law given and a punishment affixed, but we don't have to answer for that on our own. Mercy claimeth the penitent and if we turn to God with all of our hearts then we will be claimed by mercy at the last day. Repentance. We stop doing the wrong thing and we continue to do what is right. It’s really simple and I know that it works!

Have a great week this week, and when you get a chance you should read one of President Perkinson's favorite chapters. Alma 42.

Thank you for all the support, I love you

Elder Gardner

 

Zombie Homes

Hey there!

This week was a good week, we did lots of tracting. It is kind of scary going up into a 9 story "Zombie home" at night to go tracting but we have had some good experiences :)  We call them Zombie Homes because there normally isn't good lighting and there is only 1 stairwell that goes up the middle of the apartment building and a hallway that stretches along with all the doors. It looks kinda scary but they are fun! We have been trying to tract instead of talking to people on the street because there isn't a ton of people on the street because of the extremely cold weather.

Zombie House

I don't know if I showed you my boots that I got a few weeks ago. They are very warm but I kind of just got them for the souvenir/fun factor. They would have been nice in Irkutsk -  but now I don't need them as much.  They still help a lot and I wear them often.

New Russian Boots

This week we spent going around to all the people on our Branch List and trying to meet them. Not many were home but we left little invitations saying that we missed them and hoped to see them soon. One man is named “Iv” and we visited him and left him a little invitation in his mail box.  Two days later he showed up at the church! Crazy, it worked! Well... sort of... it turns out the Sisters went and visited him the day after we did and he was home that day. He told them to go away but then he showed up at the church anyway.  haha.   Anyways, we asked him to go with us to visit another less-active member that he knew and he agreed :) We visited “Ig” (the other guy) and it was great. That all happened on Friday. On Sunday, Igor showed up to church! He even showed up earlier than we did, and we showed up really early to get some work done before Church started. He set up the chairs for the congregation and he also prepared the Sacrament for us:) He really is a great guy, he just hasn't been coming because he had some head problems. He got hit by a car, but is feeling better and is starting to get back on his own two feet.  

My hat captures snow, too

We didn't do a whole lot this week other than try to talk to people. We had a few lessons with less-active members whom we haven't met yet. We had one lesson with our investigator “N”. He is doing good, working hard trying to take care of his family. They have a lot of kids and although the kids are mostly grown up they still live with him.  He currently works around 60 hours a week but pretty soon he will be working  7 days a week from 8 am to 8 pm (yes that puts him over 80 hours a week). He is a welder and he is really a cool guy. He told us that he helped build the foundation for this new 14 floor building they are building near our house. Guess how deep the foundation is. I don't know how deep it should be, or how deep we usually make our foundations ( I really don't know anything about construction and maybe the way they do it is fine)  but he told me how deep they make the foundations two meters deep for a  14 story buildings.  That seems like a small number to me, but then again I have never seen any buildings tip over so they must be on to something :) I have never felt unsafe in a Russian building so I wouldn't worry.

Russian building under construction

The Branch here is good. For now we are seeing the same results that we have had in the past. Some members come every week. But most don’t.  I would say overall though we have a good branch. But it is really hard here. Our primary teacher lives an hour away by bus, so she has to take a bus for an hour to get to the center of town and then she has to get on another bus and take that to the church. She got sick last week and couldn't come. She wasn't deathly ill but she understood that if she went to church and got even sicker then she would be down and out for at least a week of work and their family needs the money so she couldn't afford to risk it and come to church.

Elder Siebach and his friend

I don’t know of other missionaries serving in leadership positions in the branch. They might kick me out soon haha. I think some prefer having a senior couple serve in that capacity.  It is possible that they will make a technical change with someone from Vlad but I will be the one here on the ground working with the members.  That’s fine with me.

Our eating is good, we should be getting a reimbursement soon.  With Visa trips they used to give us money for the Korea trips that we could spend there but now they don't. I am not sure why the change. Anyways last time I went to Korea I spent a bunch of money and didn't budget well haha. It was the holiday season J  Anyways we have been eating out less now and are back on track.  But for a few weeks  we were eating a lot of ramen haha :) We actually have been expanding our meal repertoires recently. We have made some salads and pasta with lots of vegetables. Here in Artyom veggies are really cheap so we are doing better about that.  I weighed myself two days ago. Now I’m 164. I was 190 before the mission. They call me the Lean Mean Preachin' Machine!

I wish I had more to write but hopefully something crazy will happen this week and I can write about it next week :) I know the Church is true and the more I learn about life and the more I learn about the way families should be run, the more and more grateful I am that I have the church.

These pictures tell a fun story. Word to the wise - don't do this.  Ha ha.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the support and I love you so much :)

Elder Gardner

Taking Care of the Basics

Hey there! 
Artyom is pretty good.  We had a good week, lots of work to do. We have been meeting with all of our members and trying to figure out what’s going on with some of them. Many haven't been coming. Just taking care of the basics :)  This week was a good week at church. There weren't a ton of people at the beginning of Sacrament meeting but more showed up during the opening hymn.

The goals that you read are from the Europe East Area Presidency. They created them for us. They sent them to us and we told our branches about them and now we are all working on them. Hopefully we can keep our members interested and excited.   There are pretty good friendships already made here between some investigators and missionaries and also between some people that we stop by often and some store owners. I think it’s pretty great that the missionaries have worked so hard here in the past that makes our job a whole lot easier now. Of course not everything is easy, there are plenty of people who don't really like us and want us to leave but that happens everywhere.

Our daily routine hasn't gotten a whole lot different with the new calling. Of course we have new things that we have to do but I am not worried at all. We are learning and it really isn't too much to take care of.  I am very thankful to Elder Anderson though. He is very helpful and we wouldn't be able to do everything without his help.  Hopefully he sticks around long enough to teach me all his secrets – ha ha. We had a crazy P-day today and there was a ton of snow everywhere.  Before now there has been dirt and stuff everywhere and we were joking how we wanted to make a snowman out of dirt but now we can actually make one out of snow:) I don't think that I have made one out of snow yet on my mission! Now would be the perfect time.

My Russian is pretty good.  Being able to speak fluently definitely helps develop relationships. I am learning a lot about parenting because there is little of that that goes on, too.

Oh by the way Elder Vincent says hello :) I am with him right now in Vlad, we came down for the day to see what we could get out of our suitcases. We went to Vlad but got stuck there for awhile because there was a lot of snow today. The buses were running late. 

My new companion is good, I am learning patience and how to be a better teacher/leader instead of just doing everything myself. He’s great!

The spelling of Artyom is spelled in Russian is --------- Артём ----------- The A is an A. The P makes an R sound. T is a T. E with the 2 dots over it makes a "yo" sound. And the M is an M. So sometimes you would see different spellings, they don't have one "correct" translation for Russian words using Latin letters.

I am excited for Dad! The Legislature is always the fun part right? How many bills are you trying to get through? I am glad to hear that the Cardinals won! I told some of the missionaries here but I don't think they care very much. Haha

I miss the Farnsworth’s, how are they all doing? Is Sister Farnsworth’s neck still bugging her?

I remember researching the translation process of the Book of Mormon a lot and it is so impossibly intricate that nobody could write it in such a short amount of time. That’s pretty great that Brother Farnworth talked about that from the pulpit. Even though our belief is based on faith, it is nice to have some logic to back up what we believe.

We have lots of exciting things coming up, hopefully we can get some good results out of this Artyom branch.

I love you all and hope you have a great week :)

Elder Gardner

On to Artyom

This week was a good week!  I am tired.  We were busy all week travelling and spending lots of time with different elders all going across the mission to their new areas. It wasn't very hard for me to say goodbye to all the people in Irkutsk because it was all so quick.  I didn't really get a chance to tell everyone goodbye. That probably made it easier. I miss them though. 

Russian cool

Artyom is a really cool city. I have been to Artyom a few times with some of the old missionaries and I like it here.  It is very small, there is maybe one small mall and some stores but nothing like Irkutsk. Irkutsk was crazy. That place was always full of activity but now our p-days will be more peaceful.  Maybe next week we will take a bus to Vlad because it is close enough to get there in 45 minutes on a bus. I like the weather a lot here in Artyom. It is very warm and I could probably go without a jacket if I wanted to ha ha. 

The airplane seatbelts were made in Phoenix

Elder Siebach is a cool elder, he is really funny and always positive! He is my first counselor and Elder Anderson is the 2nd Counselor. The Andersons are a senior couple that lives in Vlad and they come to Artyom for church.  They work in the office in Vlad for the rest of the week. They are really a great couple.  They are so helpful I couldn't do anything without all the help I have been receiving. I am so glad.  As President it is my job to make sure everything runs smoothly, I know I won't succeed if I am trying to do this all on my own.

Ready to go to work

My first Sunday as Branch President was good. They announced it in front of all the members and then I gave a testimony.  I think this is going to be a good experience. I am really ready.

The branch here is pretty great. I am excited to be spending a lot of time with them.

I am rooting for you all the way with the Firefighters. It seems like you’ve been fighting that battle for a while now, hopefully it will all come to a close soon enough. That is fun that Tina moved back in. – she is a good dog.  

I love you a lot! I wish I had more to say, you have all been a big help to me so much and I am so grateful for it!

I love you and can't wait to talk to you again.  

Elder Gardner

 

We received this letter from Sister Perkinson (the mission president’s wife):

Dear Brother and Sister Gardner,

Happy New Year! Today we met with the missionaries in Artyom Branch and felt of their goodness and their desire to serve The Lord in more ways than they initially had ever expected! Change is always a part of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and it certainly is a part of Vladivostok Missionary work too!

Thank you for your prayers and support! The greatest gift for our mission truly is doing the simple things that the gospel teaches! Support by sharing stories with Elder Gardner of your own personal life that will uplift him and strengthen him is this endeavor! He truly will need that more than any material gift sent across the Pacific Ocean! You know what I mean, tell him about what you learned at Sacrament meetings so that he can apply it to Artyom Branch! Tell him some ideas of great Family nights that he can use for the branch members! Tell him every time you go to the temple, and go often, then remind him of the covenants and blessings you felt while attending! Those gifts will make a huge difference in HIS life & will help him see the eternal truths and the eternal love you have for the work he is doing! It is hard here but HARD can be so wonderfully good because thru our life's challenges we seek for guidance and help from above! This is a mission like none other that I know and I am grateful for Elder Gardner and his desire to Serve the Lord faithfully!

Sincerely,

Sister Verna Rae Perkinson

Vladivostok Russia

Getting Transferred

Hey there!

It’s kind of surreal that it is already 2016. I graduated in 2014 and by the worlds standards I haven't accomplished much.  Nevertheless, I am glad to be here on a mission, it really is quite a journey and not a very straightforward one at that. This past week was full of activities and work like always. We had a meeting with President Perkinson and had a great English Practice where we talked about Goals and Bucket lists. What kind of goals did you set this past year? Which ones did you actually accomplish? I learned how to balance a soccer ball on my foot (the technical term is "stalling" a soccer ball) I also re-learned how to juggle. I also learned how to make sugar cookies and cobbler and bread and I learned how to spin a basketball on my fingers. I didn't set any of those goals at the beginning of the year but I learned them anyways ha ha :) 

We made sugar cookies without cookie cutters.

The 10 days after New Years are pretty slow. Not a ton of people are out and about but we are still trying to do what we can to find people and teach them about Jesus Christ.  The New Year’s festivities were fun although limited. We worked like usual but there weren't a whole lot of people out on the streets to talk to. They were all in the park where they set up big ice sculptures and a gigantic tree with lights and booths for photos with Father Frost and it was all cool to look at although we didn't dare approach the crowds. We haven't completely lost our minds yet J   Only one more week until everything is back to normal.

Hanging with Father Frost

We spent a lot of time this past week with President Soolemanov. We helped him at an orphanage and we hung up a new plaque for their building. We also made a fun video with the kids there and Father Frost came and wished them a happy New Year! A few days later we went and played soccer with the president  and his professional team. I actually didn't play I just filmed it but Elder Tracy played and it looked like a lot of fun - even though it was negative 25 degrees. After that we went to visit the lady that we always help. We help her clean her house. We went to wish her a happy new year and she brought out a big bottle of champagne for us to drink. She said it was just juice, but she wasn't fooling anyone! We showed her the alcohol content and then told her that we wouldn't drink it. We brought some juice with us though so we all drank juice together and she gave us some chocolate :) Then we all sang hymns and bought her some bread. I will miss her.

Helping at the orphanage

Oh yeah, I am getting transferred out of Irkutsk. I have been here since June and now I am going to be serving in Artyom. Right now I am over 1,500 miles away from Vladivostok. In a few days I will be serving in a city that is only 25 miles from there. Oh and I won't be Zone Leader anymore. I will be the Branch President for the branch in Artyom.  I think the Lord is just trying to make me stretch and grow.  I will miss them all so much. I love Irkutsk. 

I love the people of Irkutsk

I did the best I could as Zone Leader. I communicated everything that I needed to as quickly and clearly as possible and tried to be as much help to President Perkinson as I could. Now I will have different responsibilities of course. Artyom is a small branch and I hope I can strengthen them with the Lords guidance. Of course I am not really worried. I understand that I can't do everything on my own. I will be doing as much as I can and I trust the Lord to do his part. 

Playing soccer in 2016

This is the soccer field.

My new companion will be Elder Seabach and I think he is great! I met him when I was in Vlad a few weeks ago and he is such a card. He is a lot of fun :) He will be the district leader and there will be 2 sisters in our district. One sister is Sister Hawley, she is right now with us in Irkutsk and we are both getting transferred to Artyom. 

Elder Burningham is a stud, this cat is so crazy haha it tries to eat everything that moves

I fixed the coat and got a bright gold zipper on it. Pretty great! The Ruble is now at 74 or so right now :) I heard that it will go over 100 soon.

 

I miss you all so much! I hope you have a great week and enjoy the photos I sent.

Stay Frosty

   

Elder Gardner